Hawley Bennett and Livingstone finish 15th at 2005 FEI Eventing World Cup Final

2004 Olympian and British Columbia native Hawley Bennett received the title of being Canada’s first-ever Eventing World Cup Final competitor when she traveled to Malmö, Sweden for the 2005 FEI Eventing World Cup Final CIC 3*-W, which took place August 11-14 at the Malmö City International Horse Show.

Partnered with her Olympic mount, the 15-year-old Canadian Thoroughbred gelding Livingstone, Bennett faced off against the best Eventing competitors in the world and held her own, finishing in 15th place.

After a rocky start in the dressage test, the duo danced around the ring to receive a score of 61.45% and 57.8 total penalty points, putting them in 25th place out of 37 competitors.

“‘Hank’ was good in the dressage. He warmed up great, until a four- in - hand cart came by. It threw him for a bit of a loop,” explained Bennett. “I tried to get him to focus, which he tried until we got in to the ring and another cart came down the road.  It was not a terrible test, but we could have broken into the 40s with the way he has been working.”

From there they went on to tackle the world class Cross Country course, designed by renowned Per Magnusson (SWE). The pair finished in a time of 7 min. 34 sec., receiving just 8 time penalties, to move up to 18th place.

“Cross Country Hank was his normal super self. We had 40 jump efforts in 7 min, which is a lot,” noted Bennett. “The course rode much tougher than it walked.”

“There were a couple of serious questions including a bounce bank up, one stride to a huge brush, drop down to a skinny and a "graffiti" corner complex which caused a lot of run outs,” she continued. “The water questions (3 of them) also proved to be problematic.  The water was very deep, if you got off of your line, it got up to the horse’s belly.”

In the show jumping round, the final test of the WC Final, Bennett and Livingstone successfully navigated Jan Dulöw’s course of 12 obstacles and 15 jumping efforts in a time of 76.60 seconds, bringing down only two rails to incur 8 faults.

“Show jumping was big, but not technical. Once again, I have learned to trust myself and not worry about what other people are doing. I was worried about making time and rushed into a combination,” said Bennett.

With a final total score of 73.8 penalties, the pair moved up to finish this year’s FEI Eventing World Cup in 15th place.

“I am very proud of my horse. I swear that he keeps getting better with age,” said Bennett, who feels lucky to have been given the opportunity to travel and compete with Hank.

 “The event site was interesting, stuck in the middle of the city, we had to 'hack' down the streets of Malmö to get to the site! The stabling was in the underground parking of the convention center. It was an experience, that is for sure,” she remarked.

 The FEI states that the Eventing World Cup is the sport’s first linked series. Prior to the Final, the 2005 season consisted of 17 qualifiers held at different venues around the world, and was organized at the highest level of the sport using the newer short format without steeple chase. The series is designed in a manner to encourage the participation of the world’s best riders and horses and thus promote such emblematic values of Eventing, as the constant quest for harmony between physical skills and mental balance, contact with nature, precision, stamina, agility and insightful training. The FEI Eventing World Cup is a showcase of a sport resolutely turning to the future.

The World Cup Final was won by Australia’s Clayton Fredericks, who finished with 42 total penalties aboard Ben Along Time.

For full results, please visit http://www.equipe.nu/MeetingDetails.aspx?mId=268.

The Olympic sport of Eventing encompasses three separate tests: dressage, cross-country, and jumping held consecutively. Each test ridden by the rider and horse in combination is scored individually but added together for the final results. The rider/horse combination with the fewest number of penalty points over the three days wins the competition.

Canadian Eventing is a committee of Equine Canada responsible for the sport of eventing in Canada from the grassroots to the international level. The Canadian Eventing Committee is comprised of 12 members, including two rider representatives elected by the Elite Riders Association. Directed by the Strategic Plan for Eventing, all Eventing activities are administered by this committee via six sub-committees with the support of an Eventing Manager based at the Equine Canada office in Ottawa. For more information about Canadian Eventing, visit www.canadianeventingteam.com.